Serving Homewood
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Homewood, IL
Basement seepage, failed sumps, and hydrostatic pressure against the foundation are extracted and dried, and the path from the ground is identified so the loss does not repeat. Groundwater and basement seepage are extracted and dried only after the path from the soil is identified — a wall, a slab, a drain, or a failed sump. Drying the interior without stopping that path returns the same water to the same floor.
Frequently asked questions
Is a camera inspection of the sewer worth the money?
On a house of this age, yes, and it is inexpensive relative to what it finds. Clay building sewers from the mid-century have joints that separate and roots that find them, and a partially blocked line makes every heavy rain worse because the drainage that would clear the basement is slowed. The inspection tells you whether the public sewer is your only problem or one of two, which changes what is worth spending money on.
Water comes up through the floor rather than the walls.
That is hydrostatic pressure rather than surface runoff. When the seasonal table rises above the slab, water finds the joint where the floor meets the wall and sometimes cracks in the floor itself. Grading and gutters do not reach it because the water is not coming from above. Drainage capacity below the slab is what changes it, which in a house without tile means retrofitting an interior perimeter drain and a sump.
Why does the basement stay wet for days?
Because the regional ground drains slowly and the table falls over days rather than hours. The storm passes and the water table stays high behind it. That extended exposure is what does the damage, since materials that survive a brief wetting do not survive several days. It also means a pump here is not an emergency device but something expected to run continuously for a while after every significant rain.
These questions come from the Homewood page.